Following Up On Stimson Disdain For Democracy

Apology Not Accepted

A couple of days ago I wrote a post on "Cully" Stimson's remarks condemning the notion that Gitmo detainees deserve legal representation and the lawyers that had the courage to take on these folks as clients in the face of fascist pressures to push these folks into a void where human rights do not matter.

This morning I watched the proceedings of a Senate oversight hearing where Senator Leahy called to task some of the assumptions, statements and operating parameters of the executive branch, including statements made by Stimson and AG Gonzalez (who was testifying in front of Leahy), and the historical pattern of civil liberties or human rights violations of the Bush administration.

My deepest appreciation goes to the editorial staff at the New York Times who affirmed not only my views on these matters, but the need to implement some honesty, truth, justice and adherence to our fundamental and most valued principles, as well as our standing as what Senator Leahy called "the beacon of democracy and human rights."

It is hard to render a convincing apology when you are not really apologizing. Consider Charles Stimson, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, who has been trying to spin his way out of his loathsome attempt to punish lawyers who represent inmates of the Guantánamo Bay internment camp.

Last week, Mr. Stimson expressed his “shock” that major American law firms would represent terrorism suspects, hinted that they were paid by unsavory characters and suggested that companies should reconsider doing business with them. On Wednesday, Mr. Stimson said he apologized and regretted that his comments “left the impression” that he was attacking the integrity of those lawyers.

It was not just an impression. It was exactly what he did. Mr. Stimson actually read out a list of law firms during an interview with a radio station friendly to the Bush administration.

Mr. Stimson clearly had no regard for his position as a public official who helps set policy on the detainees, never mind the small matter of people’s basic right to representation. He connected the detainees to the 9/11 attacks, even though he certainly knows that the very few detainees who have a connection to 9/11 don’t have legal representation.

President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates should have fired him. Their silence was deafening, although hardly surprising given the administration’s record of trampling on people’s rights in the name of fighting terror. But Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was not silent. In an interview with The Associated Press, Mr. Gonzales actually expanded the attack on lawyers, claiming that it has taken as long as five years to bring detainees to trial because of delays caused by their lawyers.

There’s no truth to that. The cause of the delay in bringing any Guantánamo detainee to trial is Mr. Bush himself. He refused to hold trials at first, then refused to work with Congress on the issue and claimed the power to devise his own slanted court system. Mr. Bush went to Congress only when the Supreme Court struck those courts down. The result was a bill establishing military tribunals for detainees that is a mockery of American justice.

Mr. Stimson’s appalling behavior should not be overlooked by the relevant bar disciplinary committee. Existing rules for lawyers deem it professional misconduct to do things that are prejudicial to the administration of justice. Even if the administration does not, the legal profession imposes a higher duty on those holding public office to obey proper standards of behavior.